UK national identity card scheme to be axed

[Newsjock]

Source: Press Association

The £5 billion national identity card scheme will be consigned to the scrapheap as a result of the new coalition Government, the Home Office confirmed today.

Axing the controversial scheme and associated identity databases were key manifesto commitments for both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Senior ministers must now choose how to withdraw several thousand cards already in circulation after individuals paid £30 and handed over personal information.

... The Tories branded the scheme an expensive "white elephant" while the Liberal Democrats said Whitehall could not be trusted with the personal data.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/national-identity-card-scheme-to-be-axed-1971897.html